For years there have been discussions if in fact Shakespeare re-created material found in previous literature. Though, whether or not, he did Shakespeare created an effective allusion to Sophocles’ Antigone, the Greek tragedy. In Romeo and Juliet we see the love of two people, and the ones who pull them apart, then we see their final fate. In Atigone we see a lot of the same context which brings us to the main three ideas that make up the themes of these marvelous plays, love, government, and fate.
One of the biggest parts of what makes these plays so intriguing is love. Love can be a very gripping theme in any type of literature, which is why Romeo and Juliet is known as one of the greatest novel of all time. What many people do not know is the similarities between Romeo and Juliet and Atigone. In Romeo and Juliet they are definitely meant to be together but their families’ controversy makes it very difficult which makes them go behind their families’ backs. In Antigone, Antigone and Hamion are also meant to be together but, because of the controversy between Antigone’s brothers one was left without a proper burial. King Creon declared that no one must bury him, and Antigone decided to go against him for the love of her brother. Antigone was then caught and sentenced to death which separated Antigone and Hamion’s love. In Romeo and Juliet there is also a crime that separates their love, Romeo avenges the death of a friend and ends up killing Tybalt, which is then sent into exile. As you can see in both plays there is a dramatic action that sends a love one away. In Antigone Hamion is deeply saddened by what has happen to Antigone so he visits her dead body in the cave and takes his life. Before he does though he says,